Contact Information

Alumni Success Stories

Gus Salgado

After serving 22 years in the military, what’s left to do? For Gus Salgado, retiring from the U.S. Air Force signaled both the end of a career and the beginning of a new one. He wanted to work in human services to help other veterans like himself, but after a few classes at Cabrillo College, Gus realized there were some crucial skills he still needed to learn. Which brought him to CABT.

I came home to find a different world of technology,” Gus says. “I realized after my second class that I need to get my computer skills up and running, because there are a lot of reports to write and a lot of presentations.

Since starting the CABT program, it’s been a rewarding challenge. Now, while taking classes, Gus gets to pursue his new career goal by working part-time at the Veterans Information Center (VIC) at Cabrillo.

Juggling work and class while adjusting to civilian life presents unique challenges. Thankfully, Gus’s military training helped him develop a strong work ethic over the years—“When you’re told to do something, you learn how to do it and then you do it”—but he’s still grateful for all the resources Cabrillo provides. He admires the CABT instructors for their patience and helpfulness, and for their availability outside the classroom in office hours and the computer lab.

Gus is proud of the progress he’s made, especially in reaching important milestones in his typing and keyboarding lessons. The more he learns, the more he realizes how important computer and technology skills are in the workforce and in everyday life.

While many people today tend to take these skills for granted, Gus emphasizes how useful these classes are. “It’s worth it,” he says.

Betty Hong

Betty Hong earned her art degree in 1980 and immediately jumped into a career in advertising as a graphic designer. But after 20 years, Betty decided she needed a break.

“I was kind of burned out from it,” Betty admits. “Working in advertising and marketing, it’s not a normal 8-hour day job. It could be very seasonal, and there’s a lot of overtime involved.”

And with technology in the industry advancing faster than ever, she felt it would be difficult for her to come back once she’d left.

Betty left graphic designing and began volunteering for nonprofits, which mostly involved working in offices. She genuinely enjoyed the nature of the work she was doing and welcomed the change. “I found that at my age, clerical work was ideal for me,” she says. After 15 years of volunteer work, she decided to find full-time office and administrative work.

After a period of unsuccessful job searching, Betty realized how much she needed formal training in the skills required by the jobs she wanted.

In 2011, Betty began taking CABT classes at Cabrillo. She also found a part time job at the CTC, all while keeping an eye out for full-time work. Though getting a job was more important to her than earning a certificate, Betty took as many classes as she could and enjoyed all of them.

Along the way, she appreciated the many learning opportunities at Cabrillo and the guidance she received from her instructors. “I enjoyed all my teachers — I didn’t have one bad teacher,” Betty says. “They were very supportive. I was just really into it, I really enjoyed coming to class.”

Betty now works as an office assistant at the Superior Court of California, Santa Cruz County. The job involves everything she learned at Cabrillo, including data entry, records management, and Word and Excel — an excellent pay off, and, as Betty says, a rewarding third and final career.